Comic Book Review – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #15

“In the wake of their recent skirmish with the Shredder and the Foot Clan, Splinter has instructed his sons that they must take drastic action to protect themselves from mortal threats. Little do the Turtles know that new dangers will soon surface.”

So, with issue #15 of TMNT we find the Turtles searching for a new lair in the midst of a vicious series of attacks by a ‘big green lizard monster’, or as long-time fans of the heroes in a half shell will call him, Slash!

It turns out that Slash is another result of Baxter Stockman’s experiments, this time created to hunt other mutants. He quickly tracks down the Turtles, and we’re left wondering at the end how exactly they will take him down!

The series so far has impressed me, especially with regards to Tom Waltz’s scripts (the story co-written by original creator Kevin Eastman). Each brother has such a clear voice that it didn’t even matter that they spent the first five issues wearing their classic red bandanas (which was a great nod to the original design and nicely incorporated). It has always been easy to tell who is who. This continues into issue 15, with Raphael questioning Leonardo’s decisions whilst Donatello admonishes his brother’s wimpiness and ribs Michelangelo. Splinter has a funny scene with Casey Jones, which while some may roll their eyes at; I found a nice change of pace for him after recent seriousness.

Even though the current story seems relatively straight forward in comparison to Krang and Shredder it all still ties into Stockman and his company. Between the Mousers he provided to Old Hob (himself an experiment) and now Slash he is becoming quite the thorn in the Turtles side, and it will be very interesting to see how it all comes together in the future.

Andy Kuhn’s art has challenged me since he came aboard in issue 13, and just as I start to appreciate it news comes to me that he is only signed on for one more issue, when Ben Bates takes over for four issues. His designs are an acquired taste, with oddly drawn faces in particular taking some getting used to. But Slash is a beast, exaggerating the features of the regular Turtles and looking far, far meaner. Really looking forward to see how they manage to deal with him.

With laughs, action, and great banter between the main characters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #15 is pretty much everything you would want from a Turtles comic.